With the explosive growth of personal computing, networked computer and information sharing many manufacturers have attempted to incorporate the desirable traits of these technological advances in existing and known technologies. One of these technologies was television, a nearly universal technology with a longstanding foothold in many cultures.
The basic concept of incorporating Internet and PC technologies with television was simple: to provide the user with dynamic, useful data in addition to existing television broadcasts. The proven success of the graphical user interface (“GUI”) in modern operating systems led to the obvious solution of including a GUI with television broadcasts. This technique allowed users to utilize a television much like the way he or she would use a personal computer. However, this approach failed to remember the distinction between personal computer and television and inappropriately attempted to combine two technologies targeted for two different goals.
The television from conception to present day remains solely as an entertainment device whereas the personal computer was primarily aimed at allowing a user to perform various tasks quickly and more efficiently. Although advances in personal computing allow a user to utilize a personal computer as an entertainment device (via digital music, video, photography, etc.), the personal computer still remains as an active participation device. Thus, the porting of operating system type functionality to the television (commonly referred to as the “ten foot display”) inadvertently transformed the television into a personal computer capable of display television broadcasts; as opposed to a television operative to perform personal computer-like functions. The result was a highly interactive television experience detracting from the relaxing and pleasurable television viewing experience. A user frequently was required to actively participate in updating content to the screen, viewing relevant information and many other tasks typically associated with use of a personal computer.
Thus, there currently exists a need in the art to provide a less intrusive framework for providing dynamic, robust data to the ten foot display that allows a user to be presented with external data, while maintaining the “feel” of watching a television broadcast. The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for providing this framework, a framework for providing minimally intrusive applications (“widgets”) to a user via a television device. The applications of the present invention allow a user to be presented with relevant and personalized data with minimal or no interaction from the user. This is accomplished by providing a framework outlining a plurality of states of varying degrees of interactivity, thus allowing a user to control his or her viewing session, from a standard “no interactivity” approach to a more interactive approach. The present invention standardizes this concept into a framework for deploying a near infinite amount of applications to the user seamlessly, effectively and robustly.